Kendra Kay Friar

Kendra Kay Friar is an Associate Conductor of the Pacific Youth Choir of Portland, Oregon, where she directs two K–5 choirs and related educational programming. Previously, Kendra taught elementary general music for a total of 12 years at schools in the Portland, OR, and Austin, TX, metro regions. She also worked as an adjunct professor at Pacific University in Forest Grove, OR. Kendra has presented multiple sessions for national, regional, and state conferences sponsored by NAfME, ACDA, and their affiliates. In 2021, Kendra received the Excellence in Elementary Music Education Award from Oregon Music Educators Association (OMEA).

Kendra serves as the Academic Editor of the Journal of General Music Education (JGME) and as a member of NAfME’s Equity Committee. She previously served as Oregon MEA’s Elementary Chair and as an editorial board member of JGME. Her practitioner-focused work has been published in Music Educators Journal, Journal of General Music Education, Teaching Music Magazine, and Lorenz Publications’ Activate! Magazine. She presented two webinars for NAfME’s Learning Center based on her historical research: “Scott Joplin: A Guide for K–12 Music Educators” (solo presenter) and “Margaret Bonds’ Credo and the Expanding Choral Canon” (co-presenter).

Kendra is a University of Illinois Ed.D. student majoring in Educational Policy, Organization, and Leadership – Diversity and Equity Concentration. She holds music education degrees from The University of Texas (M.M.) and The University of Illinois (B.S., Elementary-General Specialization). Her research interests include critical historical discourse analysis; music education history; cultural representation in music education curricula; and ragtime music and American modernism.